


Like The Sun

by nonsensicalbelle



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Big Spoilers, Bucky Barnes Returns, I have a lot of feelings, M/M, don't read if you haven't seen it seriously, my sweet boys, not tagging anything else bc SPOILERS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-15 19:12:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18675757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonsensicalbelle/pseuds/nonsensicalbelle
Summary: -ENDGAME SPOILERS--DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN ENDGAME PLS!!!!-When Bucky Barnes steps through the portal and sees Steve Rogers stood alone with a broken shield in front of an army.





	Like The Sun

**Author's Note:**

> so i made a twitter bc i needed to shout about endgame feel free to come and find me @notaplum  
> this idea came from @wedontradelives who wanted someone to write about bucky's reaction to seeing steve with a broken shield in front of an army and i couldn't help myself  
> so this is that  
> pls let me know what you think  
> also if you have a lot of emotions about endgame and/or stevebucky or just want to chat pls find me on twitter id love to chat to you guys  
> okay, enjoy this, i know i wont

Maybe that’s the sunrise.

He can’t be sure, his atoms are still retracing their steps but he’s pretty sure a sunrise is approaching.

It must have been seconds, just moments but when his feet are firm again he can feel the time lost. It’s in the air. It’s in the ground, still and patient. The Earth is holding its breath because, look at you all, you’re home.

There’s Sam and T’Challa and Shuri and the spider boy and he can feel they just won something. But he knows this isn’t it.

Where is he?

Everyone is moving and talking but Bucky can’t spot him.

He’s felt this before. He knows what it feels like to return to yourself, or rather, to be brought back. From gone to shatteringly present. In Azzano. In the helicarrier above the Potomac. And now again. He knows when a stubborn self-righteous star-spangled punk pulls his signature move so _where is he?_

“It’s Thanos…”

                                                “Strange is taking…”

                                                                                                                “The gauntlet must have…”

Then he has a gun, and they are marching. Of course, they’re marching. Golden circles of light start spinning them into action and James Buchanan Barnes knows a call to action when he sees one. Sam is speaking in their ears, over and over.

“Cap? Cap, do you read? Can you hear me?”

Bucky can’t bring himself to speak. Half the world just came back and he knows, he _knows_ there was a price. But please. Just once, let the other side pay it.

He knows he’s part of an army, this is all so familiar but he’s restless, the way he never is in a fight anymore. Not for a very long time. The kind of restless in his chest when a shield was dropped. When a bridge broke. On a train. Something very core and very present. He finally steps through the portal and there.

There’s the sunrise.

Heaving himself up to fight. Bucky nearly stops walking. There are thousands of these things crawling, racing and he sees Thanos and so many creatures. And Steve. Standing alone, lilting to his left a little in a way that makes Bucky’s chest tighten.

How long has he been fighting? How long has he been alone taking beating after beating? Why does it always have to be Steve Rogers. Bucky has a notebook with scribbles of his name over and over, terrified he’d forget it. Terrified he’d forget what it meant.

His Steve. Always more, always getting back up, always holding on. He was facing down a tsunami of attackers, Bucky wanted to snatch him away because isn’t it enough already? How many times did Steve have to brace himself for death because not even that could be easy. Not for Steve Rogers. And certainly not whilst Bucky Barnes was on this Earth. You did not get to _take him again._

And then he sees the shield. Broken in a way he’d thought was impossible. God, what had they done to him? How long did he stand waiting to see which blow would keep him down when even his shield fell away. His heart lurched painfully, that had always been Bucky’s job. He was supposed to be Steve’s shield, his eyes and ears, whatever Steve needed him to be. But then, of course, he always needed Steve more than Steve needed him.

And then he hears Steve speak.

“Avengers… Assemble.”

And all hell is let loose. Bucky lets himself fall into an easy sprint. He wants to run directly to Steve, tell him ‘I’m here, I’m back, you’re not alone.’ But he needs to fight before he can do that. And he’ll always fight for Steve.

They start tearing through the beasts, hoards of them streaming like a plague over the desolation. Bucky can see they’re trying to get the gauntlet to the centre of the battle, where Steve is holding off a massive attack and he shifts to steadily grow closer so he can intercept some of the flow.

It’s like 1941 again and he’s peering through a sniper taking the shots for Steve before they get too close. But he sees his friend is getting targeted, he takes hit after hit after hit and Bucky nearly gets knocked down in his distraction.

In the madness and chaos, he sees a glint. It’s just a knife. There are guns and lasers and superpowers and huge terrifying unseeing sources of power on this battlefield that Bucky will never understand but he understands a knife. And he’s _furious_. Suddenly, he can’t contain his rage. Someone would _dare_ try and use a knife to hurt Steve Rogers.

It’s ridiculous really. Steve looks like a stab wound would just be another to add to the collection at this point and they’d both suffered far, far worse but he couldn’t help it. He’d had _enough_. No one was allowed to hurt Steve anymore. **_Enough._**

He raced unerringly to the epicentre of the battle. Overhead, people were flying and swinging and shooting and Bucky fired with every other step but his eyes didn’t leave his real target. They were swarming him, tearing gashes out of him, piling one on top of the other to suffocate him and Bucky got close enough to launch himself onto the pile, slashing and ripping mercilessly. He couldn’t even see where Steve was in the pile.

“Get. Off. Him.” He grit out with each crunch and snap of bone and spray of blood. “Do. Not. Touch. Him.” Faster and faster he was soaked in blood, coating the ground in gristle until at last he saw Steve, who by all rights should have been crushed flat.

But, like the sun, he rose.

There wasn’t time here. There wasn’t time. Bucky hauled him to his feet, only holding on for a second longer. There was a nod and a breathless smile too sweet for a battlefield. Too sweet and bright for Bucky and his blood-soaked skin. But his.

And then they were back to back and fighting again. Because this is how it always was. And how it would always be. Bucky would always haul Steve to shore and Steve would always blind him. But he had left Steve alone and he had lost time to make up for. So Bucky Barnes had a message for the newly reunited Earth and anyone who was on it. Steve had been hurt enough. No more. **Enough.**

**Author's Note:**

> lol if you can't tell im HURTING and i need support  
> i love steve rogers and i love bucky barnes  
> that's the real endgame  
> okay, tweet me memes to keep me going  
> thanks for reading, would love to hear what you think, will be posting again soon (maybe a fix-it)  
> b x


End file.
